Main menu
Common skin conditions
NEWS
Check out what's new with DermNet
Read more
Quick links
Author: Brian Wu PhD. MD Candidate, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA; Chief Editor: Hon A/Prof Amanda Oakley, Dermatologist, Hamilton, New Zealand, July 2016.
Introduction
Demographics
Causes
Clinical symptoms
Complications
Diagnosis
Treatment
Outlook
Chediak-Higashi syndrome is a childhood disorder that interferes with immune system function. It is also known as Begnez-Cesar syndrome, leukocyte anomaly albinism or defect in natural killer lymphocytes.
It was first described in 1943 by Dr Beguez-Cesar.
Chediak-Higashi syndrome is rare.
Chediak-Higashi syndrome is an autosomal recessive condition caused by a mutation on the LYST gene. It is often due to parental consanguinity. The LYST gene affects the creation and maintenance of storage granules and causes problems with the transport of a protein across cells.
Chediak Higashi syndrome genetics*
*Image courtesy Genetics 4 Medics
Signs and symptoms begin to affect children with Chediak-Higashi syndrome shortly after birth or by age five at the latest.
Onset of Chediak-Higashi syndrome in adult life is associated with milder symptoms. These may include:
The majority of patients (around 80%) will undergo an accelerated phase of Chediak-Higashi syndrome. This phase is marked by the nonmalignant reproduction of white blood cells in multiple body organs. This accelerated phase can be precipitated by the presence of a viral infection, and it is often fatal if it occurs in childhood. This phase is called haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).
Diagnosis of Chediak-Higashi syndrome is made by:
Treatment for Chediak-Higashi syndrome may include:
Without treatment, the outlook for Chediak-Higashi syndrome is poor. Around 50–85% of children with this disorder will enter the accelerated HLH phase. This process with fatal without treatment and most patients will die by the age of 10 years.
TrendMD recommendations failed to load. Please refresh the page.